It never hurts to be prepared, whether in life OR in makeup, I always say. If/when an occasion ever demands a glossy, brick red lip with HELLA gold glitter, MAC’s totally got us covered.

For my lip look today I layered Lustre Lipstick in Resolute Red, a creamy brick red from the upcoming MAC in High Def collection (more on that in a few), on top of Cremestick Liner in Red Enriched.

And to really make it scream par-TAY, I added a mixture of Clear Lipglass and Gold Glitter.

Lipstick in Resolutely Red

Swatch of Resolutely Red

Resolutey Red lipstick and Cremestick Liner in Red Enriched without Clear Lipglass and Gold Glitter

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I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed that MAC’s Nail Trend Fall/Winter ‘09 Jin Soon Choi collection nail polishes break my MAC nail lacquer curse.

I haven’t always had the greatest luck with MAC’s nail polishes. Most have chipped like Cheetoes, but I’m hoping the Jin Soon Choi collection breaks the cycle.

A fixture in the fashion biz for more than 20 years, nail artist Jin Soon worked with MAC on this release. They aimed for trendy and chip-resistant, with rich lacquers and full coverage.

Colors in the collection include…

• Cool Reserve: a dirty, grayish lavender cream
• For Fun: a creamy purple
• Dance All Night: a creamy brick red
• Rich, Dark, Delicious: a creamy blackened brown
• Dry Martini: a creamy khaki olive green
• Beyond Jealous: a creamy blackened bluish green
• Underlacquer: a base coat
• Overlacquer: a top coat

The shades arrive on counters this Thursday. I took a quick look at two of them today.

Nail Lacquer in For Fun

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Hola, my Salt n’ Pepas. Before you read any further, I swear to you this MAC Make-Up Art Cosmetics face of the day started off totally normal (see above).

With the Notoriety quad in hand, I followed the MAC online face chart for the Cocomotion eye look, tweaking it just a little by swapping Arena eyeshadow for Shroom and Cork for Brownscript.

I was pretty happy with how the golden reddish brown eye turned out, so I proceeded to snap some pictures like I normally do…

But things took an odd turn when I uploaded them into this post.

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Shh… Do you hear that sound, ladies?

It’s the sound of millions of MAC fans being kept on their toes.

Seeing the new MAC Make-Up Art Cosmetics collection at the mall today, I had to overlook my preconceived notions of typical fall makeup and remember what I was supposed to be seeing.

MAC chose to name this collection “Make-Up Art Cosmetics” for a reason. It’s the company’s name, after all, and I’m guessing they intended for it to reflect more than just a season.

Remember Cult of Cherry last fall? Or Smoke Signals the fall before that? Both releases epitomized fall makeup with sultry smokey eye colors and vampy lips (mrow!).

With Make-Up Art Cosmetics, however, MAC stitched together a crazy quilt of colors running the gamut from neutrals to brights to bliggity bling-bling — a release representative of the company itself.

Widespread appeal

I really get the feeling MAC tried to include something for everyone.

The subdued neutrals, elegant greens and sheer purples in the Richard Phillips set appeal to the Chanel lover in me, while the vibrant eyeshadows, liners and pigments of the Maira Kalman and Marilyn Minter sets feed my hard-core color cravings and glitter pangs.

It’s a HUGE collection, too, with neutrals for my makeup-shy mom and brights for my makeup-obsessed BFF. Either one could walk away from the MAC counter with something new to wear.

What caught my eye?

Mostly the products in the Richard Phillips set — Notable blush, the Notoriety Eyeshadow palette and the New Spirit Lipglass (funny how they all start with the letter N!) — all great neutrals for work or other responsible daytime looks.

I’d really like to hear your take on this collection. What do you think MAC meant by choosing to name it Make-Up Art Cosmetics, and does it deliver? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Product shots

Private Viewing quad

Notoriety quad

Photo Realism quad

Lipsticks from left to right: Front Lit, High Strung, Lovin’ It, Hold the Pose, Full Body

Lipglasses from left to right: Young Thing, Personal Taste, New Spirit, On Display

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MAC never rests for long on their laurels, and they don’t give fans a lot of time to digest the many fantastic shades in their permanent line because they’re always bringing out new limited edition ones.

Take Gorgeous Gold, for instance. Like Patina and Arena, two of my favorite MAC permanent collection ladies, I paid her no mind for years.

She’s not your average shimmery gold shadow. Gorgeous Gold’s complex and unusual and unlike any other color in my stash.

It goes on like a cool lemony gold, at certain angles flashing to a shimmery green — kinda like getting two colors in one.

One of my favorite daytime looks lately has been padding Gorgeous Gold on my lids and lining my upper lash line with MAC Humid. It’s easy, casual and makes my brown eyes *pop*.

What say you about Gorgeous Gold? What other ways would you wear it?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Speaking of MAC limited editions, the new Make-Up Art Cosmetics collection hit the website earlier today. I’ve been playing Fill the Shopping Cart for hours.